Synopsis
Presents some of the work that children spontaneously sent to the firefighters at a fire house near the World Trade Center site.
Reviews
Of all of the art created in response to 9/11, some of the most moving comes from children. These two books collect work from different sources. The Day Our World Changed is a sophisticated presentation of painting, drawing, collage, and other media contributed by parents and schools all over the New York metropolitan area in the months after the attacks. Goodman, a psychologist and art therapist who works with NYU's Child Study Center, and Fahnestock, a curator at the Museum of the City of New York, organize the art thematically and contextualize the images with essays by influential child psychologist Harold Koplewicz, political figures (e.g., Rudolph Giuliani), cultural thinkers (e.g., Pete Hamill), and more. Reproduced in expressive full color, the works are remarkable and also very graphic, revealing just how inundated these kids were with imagery and information and how horrified they were. The artists, from five to 18 years old, created complex works that capture many aspects of grief; among those worthy of note is 17-year-old Babul Miah's "Empire Fallen," a painting of two dead birds falling through the air. An exhibit of this work opened on September 11, 2002, at the Museum of the City of New York, and reproductions of these and other images can be found online (www. TheDayOurWorldChanged.org). The less formal Do Not Be Sad produces the many notes and drawings sent by children from all over the United Sates to the Engine 24 Ladder 5 FDNY firehouse in downtown Manhattan. The comparatively simple drawings, mostly crayon and pencil, tend to offer direct encouragement and thanks. A brief introduction offers the barest context for the images that follow, and children's names and city are listed when available. Proceeds will go to the Children's Aid Society. Given that many firehouses in the city were covered with these messages of solidarity, this book is a useful record and very interesting next to the comparatively mature The Day Our World Changed. Libraries with enough resources should collect both, but all libraries should have The Day Our World Changed.
Rebecca Miller, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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